


Afterword

by Patricia_Highsmithfan



Category: Carol (2015), The Price of Salt - Patricia Highsmith
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 19:06:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14171517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Patricia_Highsmithfan/pseuds/Patricia_Highsmithfan
Summary: Another Post Oak Room Fic





	Afterword

**Author's Note:**

> I know there are a lot of those here and it is hard to scape from doing more of the same, but whenever a watch Carol again, I want to see the scene after. The movie just has this characteristic. It makes us want more. And this is the more I can come up with.

_  
She stood in the doorway, looking over the people at the tables in the room where a piano played. The lights were not bright, and she did not see her at first, half hidden in the shadow against the far wall, facing her. Nor did Carol see her. A man sat opposite her, Therese did not know who._

_Carol raised her hand slowly and brushed her hair back, once on either side, and Therese smiled because the gesture was Carol, and it was Carol she loved and would always love. Oh, in a different way now, because she was a different person, and it was like meeting Carol all over again, but it was still Carol and no one else. It would be Carol, in a thousand  
cities, a thousand houses, in foreign lands where they would go together, in heaven and in hell. Therese waited._

_Then as she was about to go to her, Carol saw her, seemed to stare at her incredulously a moment while Therese watched the slow smile growing, before her arm lifted suddenly, her hand waved a quick, eager greeting that Therese had never seen before. Therese walked  
toward her._

________________

 

Carol and Therese were outside the Oak Room sharing a cigarette. John had left for about 10 minutes. They haven’t shared a word ever since. Their eyes would meet and their fingers would brush whenever they passed the cigarette to each other. 

Therese took a deep breath and closed her eyes. 

“Therese?”

“Yes?”

Therese opened her eyes and looked at Carol.

“Would you come to my apartment, with me?”

Therese stared at Carol. She recognized that beautiful gold hair and remembered the feeling of them brushing her stomach. She looked at that beautiful skin and remembered how wonderful it felt against hers. And then her lips haft parted waiting for an answer, but ready to say something else. Ready to fight for her. She had missed them. She had missed them brushing against her neck, her collarbone, her breasts, her own lips. She sighed.

“I don’t know, Carol. I didn’t plane what to do after get here”

“I understand if you want to call it a night. It’s late. I’m so happy you came”

And then she noticed Carol’s eyes. Those beautiful eyes. There was something different about them. Her confidence was replaced by a vulnerability she had never seen Carol shown before. Not even a few hours ago, when she told her she loved her. It was different. Carol was opened. Waiting for her to decide. She had for the first time allowed Therese to decide the destiny of their relationship. She had put her own happiness in Therese’s hand.

“No, I don’t want to call it a night, Carol… I… I don’t want to go home alone”.

“Ok… You...”

Therese sensed the vulnerability in Carol’s voice and reached her hand to get the cigarette. She pressed her fingers and looked at her eyes.

“For now, let’s just finish this cigarette, ok?”

“Alright”.

They stayed quiet for another 5 minutes. Taking their time, prolonging this moment of uncertainty. Neither wanting to take the risk to know what will come next. Will there be more pain in their path? More hurt? More sorrow? Can they kiss their grief away?

Therese noticed a change in the weather. Rainy clouds gathered in the sky above their heads.

“Therese… I’m sorry!”

Therese stared at her for a while.

“I know, Carol. I’m sorry too”.

“Please, let’s talk in a more private place.”

“Ok”

____________

Carol were fixing some drinks while Therese was taking a look at the records. Billy Holliday’s was on the top.

“Would like to play it?”

“Maybe later.”

They both set in the couch slightly turning to the side to look at each other.

“How are things going at Times?”

“Things are going well… I… it has been keeping me busy. It is a lot of work”

“I can imagine”

Therese stared at her for a while.

“Look, I did what I thought was be the best for you… I didn’t know what was going to happen and I wanted you to move on. I’m not sure if I was wrong. I mean, look at you. Being away from me did good to you.”

“It was not the best for me, Carol! Being left naked in a hotel room was not the best for me! I was devastated when I realised that you were not coming back and even more a few months later when I tried to call you and you wouldn’t even talk to me. I thought I would never see you again”

“I wish I could have done things differently. I wish I could have discussed what happened with you, you know, find a way to work things out together”

“You decided for both of us. You act as if what I thought or feel didn’t matter.”

“It did matter Therese. I was devastated too, I swear to you! I didn’t know what to do. I was broken inside having to decide between the two loves of my life. It was not fair.”

“It was not fair… In the first months I thought I was going to die”

Carol reached for her hand.

“I’m so sorry, my angel”

“what has changed? why did you look for me now?”

“I’ve tried everything I could to keep Rindy with me. I’ve concealed to Harge’s blackmails. I’ve tried to become what he expected of me. And I become someone else… I couldn’t let Rindy be raised by that lifeless robot.”

“I’m sorry”

“I’m ok now. I can visit her. I know that I’ve tried everything. I know that it was my decision to pursue happiness to be able to be myself around her. Even if it is just once a week.”

Carol sincked her head on her knees and covered her eyes with her hands. She cried.

Therese kneeled in front of her and brushed her fingers in Carol’s hair. 

Carol sobbed.

“It is ok. It is ok. You’ll make the best of these visits. She’ll know how much you love her. We’ll work things out.”

Carol raised her head to look inside Therese’s eyes.

“We? Will you forgive me?”

“Yes, Carol. I forgive you. I’ll be with you. We’ll work things out together.”

Therese took her handkerchief and slowly wiped away her tears.

“I love you”

Carol leaned her face in Therese’s hand and closed her eyes. Then she kissed Therese’s palm. 

Therese closed her eyes and sighed with the touch.

Carol lightly brushed their lips and moved back. She waited for Therese.

Therese opened her eyes and saw her desire reflected in Carol's iris. She closed the gap. The kiss was passionate and hungry. She grabbed the back of Carol’s neck and pulled her closer. Their breasts touched. Carol moaned.

Therese slipped her tongue inside Carol’s mouth. Their tongues creating a modern ballet with rhythm and pace dictated by their craving.

“Therese, baby”

Carol whispered in Therese’s mouth.

“Humm?”

“Take me to bed”


End file.
